The invention relates to a thrust washer having a central hole for pushing onto a bolt or a shaft, wherein the thrust washer has lubricant pockets on both of its flat thrust surfaces.
Thrust washers of the type mentioned in the introduction are used, for example, in the engine and drive train of motor vehicles, for example in planet gears in planetary gear trains. In planetary gear trains, the thrust washers have the function of protecting the planet gears and the mostly unhardened planet carriers from wear and tear when the planet gear starts running. The thrust washers are seated with their respective mounting holes on the planet gear bolt. This is comparable with other places of application in the motor or in the drive train of motor vehicles.
The known thrust washers have lubricant film pockets which are supplied with lubricant via channels and grooves. In addition, thrust washers are known which have axial passage channels which are generally formed by holes.
Thus, a thrust washer is known from DE 10 2010 035 851 A1, in which numerous lubricant film pockets, which are formed by surface cavities, are imprinted into the ring surface of the thrust washer.
A thrust washer of a planetary gear train is known from DE 199 02 565 A1 which on both of its thrust surfaces has circumferential lubricating grooves which in the radial direction are connected to lubricant film pockets which are triangular in shape, the tips of which point radially outwards in each case and the bases of which lead into the circumferential grooves.
A thrust bearing for a turbocharger of a motor car is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,639,148, which has a bearing washer which is arranged in a torque-proof manner in the turbocharger housing. The bearing washer has lubricant pockets arranged oppositely on both flat sides, wherein four of the lubricant pockets arranged opposite one another are connected to one another by two channels running axially through the washer. The lubricant pockets in each case have on their one lateral edge a transition area, so that a smooth transition from the lubricant pocket to the contact surface is provided. The axially running channels in each case end in the transition area of the lubricant pockets. The lubricant gets from a cavity arranged in the one bearing surface via channels running radially within the bearing washer into the axial connection channels and via these into the lubricant pockets. The cavity is arranged above the lubricant pockets, so that the lubricant reaches the lubricant pockets as a result of gravity.
Several embodiments for a front thrust washer of a universal joint, which has a plurality of lubricant pockets which are distributed or arranged in patterns on both flat sides of the front thrust washer, are known from DE 6810086 U. In one embodiment, the lubricant pockets are formed by radially running straight channels which extend radially from the central hole outwards and are arranged on only one flat contact side of the thrust washer, wherein axial channels respectively extend from one flat side to the base of the radially running grooves, so that fluid can get from one flat side of the front thrust washer to the other flat side into the lubricant pockets.
A rotary seal assembly, which has an annular part which has a plurality of pumping grooves on its flat sealing side, is known from US 2002/0014743 A1. The fluid gets from the flat side facing away from the sealing side via axially running feed channels into groove-shaped cavities of the sealing side, from which the pumping grooves extend curved radially outwards and radially inwards, wherein the axial depth of the pumping grooves decreases continuously starting from the groove-shaped cavity to the surface of the sealing side, so that a smooth transition to the sealing side of the annular part occurs. The pumping grooves are curved in such a way that the sealing fluid is conveyed from the groove-shaped cavities to the sealing face by the rotation of the annular part.